Banding Together
by BandGurl23
Summary: The team has been thrown into an unexpected world: The world of bands! As they go undercover as an aspiring music group to watch a senator's daughter, things will take a turn for the worst and things will never be the same. Collab with PeggsterLover.
1. Chapter 1

_Alrighty! New story here that that PeggsterLover and I came up with as an idea when PM'ing! We thought the idea was kinda cute and I decided that I'd bite the bullet and start writing! MI4 in a band. BOOM. I totally just surprised you there didn't I? Below is a basic description of my character and PeggsterLover's for the story as well as positions in the band._

Simon-Drums/back up vocals

Jeremy-Lead male singer

Addie-Piano/Back up vocals

Sheri-Guitar/back up vocals

Addie

Long brown hair, color changing eyes, full for Adelaide, brown in the middle around the pupil, then green with a blue outline-but the colors don't merge together, they're sort of 3 distinct colors, glasses, bubbly, bit of a nerd, tries to always make people laugh, friendly

Sheri

Long red-brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, short for Sheridan, contacts, witty, snarky, friendly and always there, listener, bit of a nerd as well

_Please enjoy the story and review! _

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><p>"I'm sorry, you want us to WHAT?" Sheri gave her brother the look of utmost disdain at his statement.<p>

"You, Addie, Benji, and Brandt need to go undercover to as a band… To watch over Senator McCallister's daughter in HER band while they go through this contest." Ethan repeated for her. "Since the senator's gotten threats ever since his involvement with the new weapons system in DC."

"I got that, Ethan. You're letting him pull in a favor since you're in on this new system, too. I was referring to the fact of 'why the hell does it have to be _us_ that does it?'" She gestured to herself and the other three standing by her.

Ethan sighed at his sister's (unfortunately) stubborn nature. "Look, the four of you are the only ones out of the six of us that have the ability to play music. Jane and I never had any experience with that in the past so you guys were the clear choice to be the band."

"And we know you guys are good. Remember the Christmas party?" Jane made a point of mentioning, growing an amused smile at the memory.

Sheri twitched slightly in remembrance. "Yes. And I swore I'd never do it again because I don't recall EVERYTHING that happened with that little gig."

"I do. Do you want me to tell you?" Addie grinned teasingly.

"HELL to the no."

"Jane is going to be undercover as your guys' agent and I'll be your manager so if you guys need any back up, we're right there." Ethan added, hoping to convince Sheri a little better.

"Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it." Addie began chanting, poking her best friend in the arm with a Cheshire cat smile on her face. Brandt began to start chanting under his breath, smiling at the young woman and then saying right it in her ear. Benji snickering about it right behind her wasn't helping either.

With a stiff sigh, the Hunt sister reached out and pinched both of Addie and Brandt's pressure points swiftly, getting the pair to back down and go to their knees cringing.

"Fine. I'll do it." She replied plainly, a deadpan expression on face as if she were a teenager again.

"Goddamn it Sheri!" Adelaide glared daggers. "I HATE it when you do that."

"And I hate it when I'm pressured into something I don't want to do. What's your point?"

-_l-_

Addie fidgeted nervously in the new clothes she was currently donning. A sequined teal tank top clung to her torso with a black leather jacket over it, black skinny jeans stuck to her legs like a leech, an opulently flashy silver chain necklace with a diamond the size of her eye rested on her chest, and it seemed like gallons of make up was caked onto her face. At least she was able to convince the others to let her wear her bright teal Converse sneakers with it all.

Still, she felt rather uncomfortable wearing her showy new wardrobe.

"Oh relax! You look fine, Addie!" Sheri waved a hand at the other girl. "You're overreacting."

"Easy for you to say. You're used to changing outfits and being someone different on a whim!" She harrumphed and blinked several times, still trying to get used to the contacts Sheri had practically stuck into her eyes.

"That's only because I grew up with Ethan shoving his ideals down my throat once he joined the IMF." Sheri retorted with a snort, looking through the racks of clothes that the agency had provided them with for their mission.

"Sheri…"

"Sorry, just ignore me and my cynical tendencies." She waved a hand, not facing Addie at all.

"Hey." Addie put a hand on Sheri's shoulder, making her turn and look her in the eye. "You're far from a cynic. And frankly, you're not as much like your brother like you think! You're so much cooler. But shhh! Don't tell him that!" She winked.

This made Sheri laugh and look at Addie with an intensely warm smile. After the whole mission in Dubai, the two of them had become extremely close. Especially after Addie basically saved her ass when Moreau had attacked her and Benji.

Which reminded her…

"YOU may not like your new look… But I'm sure Benji might have a thing or two to say about it." Sheri gave Addie a teasing look.

Addie grew flustered and the blush on her cheeks became amplified within seconds. "H-Hush, Benji won't even care."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, sure." She chuckled quietly and went back to sifting through the racks.

Not even an hour later, the two of them walked out from changing to where the others were waiting. Ethan and Jane were dressed professionally and given supplies worthy of a band manager and agent (maybe even better than that) and Benji and Brandt had since then dressed more like band men with their graphic tee's and jeans.

"I would've been just fine wearing my usual shirts, Brandt." Benji looked as if he were a little five-year-old boy denied his favorite snack, crossing his arms.

"The checkered shirts weren't going to work out Benji, and you know it." Brandt rolled his eyes a bit, amused. Then their two female band members joined them. He nudged Benji in the side with his elbow.

"Ow! What the hell—"

"Besides, ditching the shirts means you have a better chance of impressing _her_." The former intelligence analyst gestured to Addie.

Benji followed his line of sight and gawked at her huge shift in appearance. The techie rarely ever saw her without her glasses on and the attire was definitely the opposite of the stuff she usually wore. And the make up. My goodness, the make up just made her glow.

He got to his feet and approached Addie, barely noticing Sheri side-step with a mischievous glint sparkling in her eye. "Addie. Y-You look brilliant." He managed to stammer the sentence out while mentally hating himself for sounding like a little schoolboy with a crush on a high schooler.

Addie chuckled a bit and he thought he was just going to melt on the spot. Why did she have to be so bubbly? He felt as if this rookie agent was masquerading as the sun, not a band member. So bright!

"Thanks Benji. I think you look really great too! Though I do miss the checkered shirts."

"Well, at least _someone _does." Benji shot back a childish glare to Brandt, who just stuck out his tongue at him briefly as he spoke with Sheri, who rolled her eyes at the two of them.

Just what were those two talking about?

-_l_-

"Those two are so infatuated with each other that it isn't funny." Sheri told Brandt as they watched Benji and Addie talk.

"Benji doesn't have the guts to just ask her out on a date. He's not used to actually being interested in a girl. Much less a girl being interested in him." Brandt pointed out, watching Benji turn to him and give a glare about his shirts, to which he just stuck his tongue out.

Sheri rolled her eyes at them but grinned nonetheless. She had never felt so at home with these people all her life. It was… certainly a very different feeling when her brother had become so detached from her later in life. And she preferred to keep it that way.

"Well then I guess we'll just have to give them the confidence to… _communicate_ to each other, hm?" She stretched her arms to the ceiling with an alluring smirk.

"That an invitation for me?" Brandt smiled at her charmingly. Was that a skip in her pulse that she felt?

"No, I was telling my brother to. You know, the one who happens to be absolutely spectacular when it comes to romance? Yes I was talking about you."

"Sarcastic. Ouch." He jokingly put a hand to his heart with a grin that expressed his enjoyment in their playful banter. Though her insult towards her brother didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Are you in or what you goof?"

"Sounds good to me."

Ethan watched the two carefully from afar, feeling something boil in the pit of his stomach.

"Ethan? Everything okay?" Jane asked, wondering what suddenly got him so surly.

"Yeah. Fine."

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><p><em>Please review!<em>


	2. Chapter 2

_So something I forgot to mention earlier (that's totally obvious now) is that PeggsterLover's character gets Benji in this fic while mine gets Brandt. :) For obvious reasons. This chapter is a bit shorter and I hope you don't mind. I was working on another idea at the same time as this so please enjoy!_

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><p>The competition was taking place in Seattle, at the Quincy Jones Performance Center at Garfield High School. It was to take place in segments until they got down to the last five bands, who would then perform for thousands at CenturyLink Field in what was basically a battle of the bands.<p>

"We're not, like, too… _old_ for this, are we?" Benji questioned as they flew on the private IMF jet to Seattle the day before the introduction session.

"The competition is meant for anyone ages twenty one to forty five. You guys will be fine, you're right in the middle of the age limits." Jane reassured, working on her laptop with fake reading glasses on her nose to complete her "band agent" look.

Ethan was attempting to finish dressing up in his attire as their "manager", but couldn't seem to manage to properly cinch his tie up. Sheri rolled her eyes and got up from her seat, approaching him. She took hold of the tie and undid his (rather sloppy) work.

"Sit still and let me do this." She sighed, working to redo his tie.

The older of the two felt undermined by his sister by the way she was treating him, but stayed still nonetheless. In the back of his mind, he questioned how she knew how to tie a tie, but decided not to ask for risk of just angering her more. Ever since she had been in college and he had begun working for the IMF, he had been constantly asked her to stay on her guard in case anyone came after her because of him and eventually had just begun to ask her to join the IMF with him so he could keep an eye on her. She kept denying the offer and soon became very infuriated every time he brought up the subject. They became very estranged after that. It wasn't until it was too late that she finally gave in to his request. The event that transpired, however, he knew she blamed him for. And though Ethan would never admit it, as much as their relationship was strained now, his little sister still meant the world to him.

"There. Done." Sheri finished, patting her brother's shoulder without a care and turning to walk away.

He wondered if he should talk to her about it, try to straighten things out before the mission really took place, but Brandt taking a seat beside Sheri and sharing a secret smile with her immediately switched his brain to defensive brother mode instead.

"Hey, I just thought of something!" Addie pointed out, sitting across the two with Benji.

"What's that?" Brandt asked curiously.

"We need a band name!"

"Oh duh." Sheri facepalmed. "Can't believe we let ourselves forget about that."

"Any ideas?" Benji looked to Adelaide beside him.

"Hm, well I had one in mind but I don't want to sound silly…"

"Go ahead and tell us!" Brandt insisted. "Any idea you've got is a start at least."

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could be… The Impossibles?"

There was a moment of silence as they pondered the name.

"I like it." Benji said finally. "The Impossibles!" He said in a voice like that of what you might hear in a movie trailer.

Sheri snickered at his reaction. "I do too. The Impossibles. Makes us sound like warriors or something."

"Warriors? You have WAY too active of an imagination, Sheri." Brandt chuckled, nudging her.

"Hey, dreams of madness make the world go 'round, William dear." She smirked and he couldn't help but smile back. There was something about her overall attitude that just made him grin.

Brandt glanced up behind her and caught Ethan glaring at him from the doorway. His face paled and he could feel his blood pressure go down from how much colder his glare was making the room. Great. Now Ethan was ready to kill him if he got anywhere NEAR Sheri. Just what he needed.

-_l_-

Addie couldn't help being nervous for this mission. She hadn't been on stage since she was in high school and the end of those days wasn't exactly a pretty one. The impact of the argument at the end had convinced her to stay away from the spotlight ever again. It was dangerous.

"Addie? You all right?" Benji laid a hand on her arm.

She jumped slightly at the contact and the technician pulled away, realizing the odd impulse he had given into. "I'm fine Benji. I swear." She smiled, pleased that she was doing this with him and the others at least.

Her only wish was that it didn't somehow tear them apart in the end.

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><p><em>As you can see, I added a little bit more about the past, but left it vague for my own reasons. ;D Hope it wasn't too short and hope you find their band name fitting!<em>

_Love you all! xoxo_


	3. Chapter 3

_I simply couldn't resist having them sing this song (sing Jeremy sang it in "Love Comes to the Executioner"). Hope you like this next chapter. It's also a bit short, but hopefully full of some chuckles and mystery. ;D_

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><p>"So we're singing 'American Pie' huh?" Addie said after practicing the song that night. "I like it! That was fun!"<p>

"It was Brandt's idea. Apparently it's one of his favorites." Sheri turned to said man with her guitar slung around her shoulders.

"What can I say? I have a wide range of music likes." He grinned simply at his co-conspirator in matchmaking.

She understood the message and turned to Addie and Benji with a slight frown. "But you guys seemed to be having a disagreement about tempo back there. Can you two work on that while Brandt and I go talk with Ethan really quickly about something?"

"Sure." Benji shrugged with an upbeat smile and a twirl of his drumsticks.

Sheri rolled her eyes simply and placed her guitar on the stand, striding out with Brandt following closely behind her.

Benji turned to Addie, twirling his drumsticks some more. "So, where do you want to start in the song? What's worse? Maybe the beginning?"

"Are you trying to impress me, Benji? Because if so, it's a very interesting method." Addie commented with an amused expression as she watched him continuously fiddle with the percussion instrument in various ways.

"Wha-? N-No, of course not!" He laughed it off and stopped twirling. "Unless you're jealous!" The technician teased.

"Well, maybe a little bit…" She chuckled, half-joking.

"Here, let me show you then." He hopped to his feet.

"We're supposed to be practicing for tomorrow though, Benji!"

"It can wait for a little bit." He reassured, waving a hand carelessly. "Besides, I'm sure Brandt and Sheri won't mind if we take a small break. Sometimes you just gotta have a breather."

"… Yeah, I guess that's true." Adelaide joined him in front of the drums. "So you're gonna show me how to do this huh?"

"Yep." He handed her one of the drum sticks and proceeded to slowly spin the other in his hand. "It's kind of a rolling motion off your fingers as it rotates between fingers…"

"So, kind of like this?" Addie tried to spin the way her explained but fumbled with it and in trying to recover, simply allowed it to drop on the floor in failure.

"Darn it! Sorry, I'll just—"

"No no, here I got—"

The pair both made a move to pick it up and continue on with the mini lesson, but they butted heads and ended up on the floor on their rears from the impact.

"Goodness, bloody hell…" Benji groaned, rubbing the point of contact painfully. "That could've gone better."

"Uh, yeah. Agreed." Addie replied, standing and trying to rid herself of the now sore sensation in her forehead.

"Maybe we should just get back to practicing."

"Yeah… That sounds good." She chuckled sheepishly.

-_l_-

"See, that was cute. And proof of just how attracted they are to each other!" Sheri told Brandt as they watched from the doorway. "Now if only we could get them to admit their feelings… Or better yet, just kiss and get it over with."

"Pft, good luck with that one. That's not exactly an easy goal." Brandt chuckled.

"I thought you were gonna be my partner on this. Coward!" She teased.

"I'm not backing out and I'm definitely NOT a coward. I'm just saying that it's going to be a difficult task."

"We've had worse. We can do this. And Brandt?"

"Yeah?"

"You mind not trapping me between the wall and you? It's a bit uncomfortable."

-_l_-

The day of the introduction session came and the four of them sat in seats towards the middle of the Center while Ethan and Jane interacted with the other managing peoples in the back of the room.

"Got eyes on the senator's daughter." Sheri spoke quietly, only intending for the mic on her to pick it up so the rest of the team heard.

The daughter, Julia McCallister, with her ginger red waves tumbling down her back and emerald green eyes sparkling like the belonged in a jewelry store, was laughing with one of her bandmates as they waited for the host of the competition to come on stage and talk to them all. What caught Addie and Brandt's eye, however, was the dark, shaggy black-haired guitarist speaking on his cell phone lowly, away from the rest of his band. His piercing cobalt blue eyes shifting warily as he looked around to make sure no one was watching.

They had their first potential subject.

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><p><em>Please review!<em>

___Love to you all, xoxo_


	4. Chapter 4

_This chapter's only long because of the UBER long lyrics used here. ^^ Do enjoy imagining this in your mind. Jeremy singing rather closely with the mic, Simon doin his thing on the drums... Oh yes. XD Love it~! Lots of close touches here too!_

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><p>A shrill whistle carried out over the crowd of bands and everyone was silenced. Upon the stage was a tall man with salt and pepper gray hair, baby blue eyes, and a casual black suit. He surveyed the crowd with a small smile and motioned for everyone to sit down.<p>

"Good to see a nice crowd here. Glad everyone could make it. I'm Jonathon Richmond, the host and creator of this competition as well as one of the judges. I…" Sheri stopped paying attention to him after that, only watching and pretending to be interested.

Ethan would scold her for it later, but as usual she'd just brush it off. He didn't _really_ care about her. She knew he didn't. He always preferred her to be out of the way and out of trouble. As if she were a pathetic china doll he could just toss away and use to make him seem like the good big brother.

Yeah. Right.

She gave a little snort and Brandt looked over with a curious and questioning look. Sheri shook her head, letting him know it was nothing major. Still, he placed an arm around her shoulders and gave her a partial hug. A rosy red blush dusted her cheeks, but she turned away so he wouldn't notice. Love was definitely not in the books for this mission and most _especially_ not for her.

However… She didn't really mind the reassuring arm around her shoulders. Smiling in spite of it all, Sheri was glad that she had someone who made her feel safe, calm, loved.

Wanted.

-_l_-

Brandt knew Sheri was far from alright. He had always disliked the way she shrugged off her problems, trying to seem strong and unbreakable in the worst of times.

She wasn't Ethan though. She wasn't made of steel and she wasn't invincible. Like any other human, she was fragile inside and trying to deny that was only going to backfire on her before she even knew it.

The analyst could practically _feel_ the hard stare from Ethan now, for he felt as if someone were walking on his grave. He didn't bother turning around for fear of dying from direct eye contact with the point agent, so he just stayed as he was; with his arm around Sheri and his eyes on the host of the contest.

Meanwhile, Ethan was staring down Brandt's back in an attempt to get him to turn around and remove his arm from his sister but it was to no avail.

"Really? Really Ethan?" Jane covered her mic discreetly, giving said man a deadpan look.

"What?" He spoke curtly.

"Staring down Brandt isn't going to get him to do anything."

"You don't know that."

"Actually, I do." Carter sighed. "You know, she thinks you don't care."

"I know."

"Then why do you still act the same? And not tell her the truth?"

"Because maybe she's right." Ethan spoke in a lower tone this time.

Jane was shocked. His admittance was not only extremely blunt, but the way he said it almost made him sound… Ashamed. A form of emotion she had never even seen _hints_ of in him before.

This was something that HAD to be rectified.

-_l_-

Benji watched the suspicious guitarist carefully from the corner of his eye. After the assassin got the drop on him in Dubai, he'd learned his lesson about getting distracted on the job. He wasn't gonna let it happen again. Nope, no more distractions for Benji. He was gonna show the team just what he could do.

And maybe impress Adelaide a little bit on the way.

But again, that was a distraction and according to just about all the rules of being an IMF agent, distractions were bad.

"Benji!" Addie addressed in a stage whisper, beckoning for him to follow her as the other two headed out of the aisle. "We're introducing ourselves first!"

"What? Oh!" He jumped to his feet and followed her. "Us first? Whose bright idea was that?"

"Brandt's." Addie grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Mr. Jump-At-the-Opportunity-to-Make-a-Fool-of-Ourselves."

"Yes well he's the one at stage center, so let's see how he reacts to that!" He told her, trying to make the situation less forced.

"…Yeah, I suppose that's true too." She chuckled lowly as they strode on stage.

"Hey everybody." Brandt took the microphone and grinned at everyone. Benji could've sworn he heard some women giggle quietly. Lucky asshole. What a womanizer.

"So as you've heard, we're The Impossibles. I'm Jeffery Thompson. This here's Amber Scott." He gestured to Sheri who gave a spunky salute. "This is Kristy Hammond." Addie gave a polite wave and smile to match. "And this is Willy 'Tech' Jones!"

Benji twitched slightly at the name given to him by the analyst but just grinned and gave a slight nod as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Some more women tittered and he had a feeling it wasn't for the same reason as with Brandt.

"So here's a little song to introduce us. Hope you enjoy… It's kind of old. Older than us thankfully." He joked and chuckled rippled through the crowd as they walked to their spots to get ready to play.

Sheri plucked a few guitar strings for tuning with her "lucky" pick while Benji made sure the drums were set up just the way he liked. Addie set the keyboard up according to her preferences and then all gave Brandt the "ready" nod.

"Here we go then." Brandt winked at them before turning to the microphone as Sheri and Addie began to play.

He got up close and personal with the microphone and began to sing:

A long long time ago  
>I can still remember how<br>That music used to make me smile  
>And I knew if I had my chance<br>That I could make those people dance  
>And maybe they'd be happy for a while<br>But February made me shiver  
>With every paper I'd deliver<br>Bad news on the doorstep  
>I couldn't take one more step<br>I can't remember if I cried  
>When I read about his widowed bride<br>But something touched me deep inside  
>**The day the music died**<br>So

[Chorus]  
>Bye, bye Miss American Pie<br>Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry  
>Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye<br>Singin' this'll be the day that I die  
>This'll be the day that I die<p>

Did you write the book of love  
>And do you have faith in God above<br>If the Bible tells you so?  
>Now do you believe in rock and roll?<br>Can music save your mortal soul?  
>And can you teach me how to dance real slow?<p>

Well, I know that you're in love with him  
>Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym<br>You both kicked off your shoes  
>Man, I dig those rhythm and blues<br>I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck  
>With a pink carnation and a pickup truck<br>But I knew I was out of luck  
>The day the music died<br>I started singin'

[Chorus]

Now, for ten years we've been on our own  
>And moss grows fat on a rolling stone<br>But, that's not how it used to be  
>When the jester sang for the king and queen<br>In a coat he borrowed from James Dean  
>And a voice that came from you and me<br>Oh and while the king was looking down  
>The jester stole his thorny crown<br>The courtroom was adjourned  
>No verdict was returned<br>And while Lenin read a book on Marx  
>The quartet practiced in the park<br>And we sang dirges in the dark  
>The day the music died<br>We were singin'

[Chorus]

Helter skelter in a summer swelter  
>The birds flew off with a fallout shelter<br>Eight miles high and falling fast  
>It landed foul on the grass<br>The players tried for a forward pass  
>With the jester on the sidelines in a cast<br>Now the half-time air was sweet perfume  
>While sergeants played a marching tune<br>We all got up to dance  
>Oh, but we never got the chance<br>Cause the players tried to take the field  
>The marching band refused to yield<br>Do you recall what was revealed  
>The day the music died?<br>We started singin'

[Chorus]

Oh, and there we were all in one place  
>A generation lost in space<br>With no time left to start again  
>So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick<br>Jack Flash sat on a candlestick  
>Cause fire is the devil's only friend<br>And as I watched him on the stage  
>My hands were clenched in fists of rage<br>No angel born in Hell  
>Could break that Satan's spell<br>And as the flames climbed high into the night  
>To light the sacrificial rite<br>I saw Satan laughing with delight  
>The day the music died<br>He was singin'

[Chorus]

I met a girl who sang the blues  
>And I asked her for some happy news<br>But she just smiled and turned away  
>I went down to the sacred store<br>Where I'd heard the music years before  
>But the man there said the music wouldn't play<br>And in the streets the children screamed  
>The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed<br>But not a word was spoken  
>The church bells all were broken<br>And the three men I admire most-  
>the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost-<br>They caught the last train for the coast  
>The day the music died<br>And they were singing

[Chorus:Repeat x2

Sheri finished up the song with a few more strokes of her guitar chords and bowed with the others as they got a round of enthusiastic applause.

"Can't go wrong with a classic." Brandt put the mic back with a flirtatious wink at the females in the audience.

Sheri rolled her eyes with an amused smile, though couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy for all those women he winked at. The jealousy was soon swept away when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked off stage. And the pleased sensation in her heart only increased when she watched Benji secretly take Addie's hand and give it a gentle squeeze as they followed behind.

Maybe this whole mission would have a better outcome than she thought.

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><p><em>Please Review!<em>

_Love to you all! xoxo_


	5. Chapter 5

_Finally! Bet you guys have been waiting for this chapter FOREVER. I apologize. Schoolwork gets the best of one. ^^" Not to mention drama. Oh glorious drama, why do you have to be such a pain in real life? Anywho, on with the story. This chapter's another long one with lyrics. The song's featured are "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland and "Like Whoa" by Aly & Aj. Please enjoy!_

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><p>The team kept a close eye on things for the next few days during the lessons and mingling. Mr. Suspicious-Guitarist hadn't made any more suspicious moves other than the oddly secretive calls, no one had made any attempts to snatch up Julia, and there hadn't been any odd occurrences. The six of them had started to relax, including Ethan, surprisingly.<p>

But that was never meant to last long.

-_l_-

A week later, the bands had been narrowed down to ten and both Julia's band and the team's band had made it through.

"We're better than I thought we were!" Benji spoke with an impressed tone. "I wasn't sure we were gonna make it this far. Thought we'd have to go undercover some other way to stick around."

"Oh ye of little faith!" Addie teased, hitting his arm gently with a mock hurt expression. "I can't believe you had so much doubt!"

"Wha—I-! Can you blame me? We've practiced only so many times and we're not the most experienced of musicians!" He sipped his beer. "Don't tell me you didn't have any doubts at all!"

"Nope!"

"Absolutely none at all?"

"Uh-uh."

"…Seriously just, none?"

"Not a single doubt." Addie proclaimed proudly.

"… Huh."

Addie grinned. She was proud to have an attitude that left people bewildered. It made life more interesting. Not that her job wasn't interesting enough already. Turning in her seat at the hotel bar, she watched Ethan and Jane speak quietly at a table of their own. 'Must be discussing something awfully importantly to be sitting away from the rest of the team.' She pondered what exactly they could be speaking of.

A light giggling captured her ear and peering down around Benji, she discovered Sheri sitting with Brandt. By the looks of it, the third woman of the group was becoming slightly drunk and starting to get perhaps a bit flirty with the analyst. Ethan noticed and sent laser beams his way. Jane tried to get him to look away and listen to her reasoning.

'Oh… I see. This is about Sheri and Brandt… Ethan really _does_ care. Now if only Sheri knew that.' With a great sigh, Addie turned back to her drink and downed the last of its contents.

"Hey! Hey Addie! Come on let's sing!" Sheri skipped up to her, seeming to be hyper as a 6-year-old on too much sugar. This was certainly a different side of Sheridan she'd never seen…

"Wha—All of us?" She inquired.

"Yes all of us silly! The four of us! The band!"

"Is that such a good idea…?" Addie spoke with a hesitant tone.

"Yessssss, Ethan and the others already okay-ed it! So come on!" Sheri pulled on her arm and dragged her towards the mini stage where Brandt and Benji were already getting set up.

"Gahhh… Alright alrighttttt." She groaned, following the absolutely chipper Hunt sister.

Sheri hopped onto the stage, grabbing the guitar and strumming. "Can we do 'Stuck Like Glue', guys? Please?" she begged in her best child voice.

Brandt just laughed at her adolescent tendencies and turned to the other two. "Well? What do you guys think?"

Benji was thinking of the implications this song would bring. His feelings towards Addie and even Brandt's feelings towards Sheri. It made him increasingly nervous.

"Let's do it." He said finally with his trademark grin. What better way to help with your profession of love than with a song?

"I'm game!" Addie gave her approval, hoping to possibly express her feelings to Benji.

"Then," Brandt turned to Sheri and gave a mock bow, grinning boyishly to match her current attitude. "May I have this duet miss?"

She giggled (an unnatural sound for her!) and replied, "Why of course dear sir!"

He turned to the microphone and she did the same with her guitar. Benji started off the beats with some miscellaneous instrument on his drums to get the song going smoothly.

_MMMM better...MMMM better...  
><em>

Sheri began singing first, looking at Brandt charmingly as she played her guitar.

_Absolutely no one that knows me better  
>No one that can make me feel sooo goooood<br>How did we stay so long together?  
>When everybody, everybody said we never would<br>And just when I, I start to think they're right  
>That love has died...<br>_

Brandt and everyone else joined for the chorus, and the audience in the bar began to clap and sing along. The room began to fill with a warm atmosphere and even Ethan could feel a smile coming on.

_[Chorus:]  
>There you go making my heart beat again,<br>Heart beat again,  
>Heart beat again<br>There you go making me feel like a kid  
>Won't you do it and do it one time?<br>There you go pulling me right back in,  
>Right back in,<br>Right back in  
>And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo<em>

I'm stuck on you  
>Whutooo whutooo<br>Stuck like glue  
>You and me baby we're stuck like glue<br>Whutooo whutooo  
>Stuck like glue<br>You and me baby we're stuck like glue

Some days I don't feel like trying  
>Some days you know I wanna just give up<br>When it doesn't matter who's right, fight about it all night  
>Had enough<br>You give me that look  
>"I'm sorry baby let's make up"<br>You do that thing that makes me laugh  
>And just like that...<p>

[Chorus:]  
>There you go making my heart beat again,<br>Heart beat again,  
>Heart beat again<br>There you go making me feel like a kid  
>Won't you do it and do it one time<br>There you go pulling me right back in,  
>Right back in,<br>Right back in  
>And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo<p>

I'm stuck on you  
>Whutooo whutooo<br>Stuck like glue  
>You and me baby we're stuck like glue<br>Whutooo whutooo  
>Stuck like glue<br>You and me baby were stuck like glue

Whutooo Whutoo

Sheri took over from there and jumped next to Addie. The two women grinned and sang the next bit with a hint of sass to their movements.

_You almost stay out, too stuck together from the ATL  
>Whutooo Whutoo<br>Feeling kinda sick?  
>Just a spoon full of sugar make it better real quick<em>

I say  
>Whutooo Whutoo<br>Whatcha gonna do with that?  
>Whutooo Whutoo<br>Come on over here with that  
>Sugar sticky sweet stuff<br>Come on give me that stuff  
>Everybody wants some<br>Melodies that get stuck

Up in your head  
>Whutooo whutooo<p>

Up in your head  
>Whutooo whutooo<p>

Up in your head  
>Whutooo whutooo<p>

Up in your head  
>Whutooo whutooo<br>Whuthoo whutooo  
>Stuck like glue<br>You and me together, say, it's all I wanna do  
>I said<p>

[Chorus:]  
>There you go making my heart beat again,<br>Heart beat again,  
>Heart beat again<br>There you go making me feel like a kid  
>Won't you do it and do it one time<br>There you go pulling me right back in,  
>Right back in,<br>Right back in  
>And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo<p>

There you go making my heart beat again,  
>Heart beat again,<br>Heart beat again  
>There you go making me feel like a kid<br>Won't you do it and do it one time  
>There you go pulling me right back in,<br>Right back in,  
>Right back in<br>And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo  
>I'm stuck on you<p>

_Whutooo whutooo  
>Stuck like glue<br>You and me baby we're stuck like glue  
>Whutooo whutooo<br>Stuck like glue  
>You and me baby were stuck like glue<br>Whutooo whutooo  
>Stuck like glue<br>You and me baby we're stuck like glue_

The crowd in the bar applauded loudly and began cheering for an encore. Jane laughed at the four's surprised expressions and gave them a "told-you-so!" sort of look.

"Hm, whatta ya say Addie? You and me? Duet?" Sheri asked.

"Duet? Sounds like fun." Addie's grin grew tenfold with excitement, an interested glint shining in her eyes.

The girls whispered to each other in hushed, sophomoric whispers. The two boys looked at each other and gave unsure shrugs, curious about the females' conniving plans.

"Sit down boys! Sheri and I got this one on our own~!" Addie shooed them off in a sing song voice, flashing a pearl white smile at Benji before he exited off the stage with a blush.

Addie took up what used to be Brandt's mic and bite her lip with a smile. This was going to be a lot of fun, no doubt about it! The guitars of the track came on first and she began to sing.

_Life is good I can't complain  
>I mean I could but no one's listening<br>Your image overwhelms my brain  
>And it feels good, good, good<br>_

Sheri took control with the next half of the verse:

_Now I'm rolling my window down  
>I love the wind but I hate the sound<br>You're like a tattoo that I can't remove  
>And it feels good, it feels good, it feels good<br>_

The two then sang in sync and harmony for the chorus and began to add small dance moves here and there.

_[Chorus:]  
>Like a rollercoaster ride<br>Holdin' on white knuckles like  
>Whoa, whoa<br>Got me feeling like  
>Whoa, whoa<br>Everytime I'm like  
>Up and down and side to side<br>Every inch of me is like  
>Whoa, whoa<br>Got me feeling like  
>Whoa, whoa<br>Got me feeling like_

In the morning it begins again  
>Feels like I'm falling better strap me in<br>I think I'm running out of oxygen  
>And it feels good, it feels good, it feels good<p>

[Chorus]

My inhibitions are beginning to let go  
>This situation<br>I can't help but lose control  
>No inner friction that I cannot seem to break<br>It feels good, it feels good  
>I'm holding on, I'm holdin' on<p>

Like a roller coaster ride  
>Like I'm running a red light<br>Like a rocket ship is like  
>Something else that makes me feel like WHOA!<p>

Like a roller coaster whoa  
>Holding on my knuckles whoa<br>Every inch of me is like  
>Whoa, whoa<br>Got me feeling like  
>Whoa, whoa<p>

Benji blinked, stunned by the performance and utterly bashful at the sight of Adelaide's brilliantly blinding smile at him. Brandt elbowed the technician slightly with a teasing smirk that pretty much said it all. He opened his mouth to speak.

Then, there was a resounding shriek.

* * *

><p><em>Please review!<em>


	6. Chapter 6

_Do please enjoy this next chapter! It took me forever to complete! :) Thanks to PeggsterLover for speeding up my progress! It's pretty long and the drama now ensues starting here!_

* * *

><p>The six of them were pounding heels into pavement before anyone bystander could do anything. Even if it wasn't their protectee, it was still a priority to make sure the area was safe for her to reside in, if only temporarily.<p>

"Alley on the east side." Ethan triangulated the cry's origin quickly. "Jane and I will head down the alley straight on. Benji and Sheri, hit the alley from the short cut route by the strip mall. Brandt and Addie, head back in and come out the kitchen door to corner them."

With silent nods of acknowledgement, the team split off into their pairs and headed to their assigned destinations.

"Closing in on the alley, Echo. We can hear the disturbances now." Benji informed as he and Sheri neared the alley behind the Wal-Mart beside the hotel. They decided on using military phonetics to refer to each other based on the first letter in their names.

"Same here, Bravo." Ethan confirmed as he and Jane approached the direct entrance and exit of the alleyway, quick on their feet as they ran down.

"Approaching the kitchen door! Get ready to jump, Echo and Bravo!" Addie told them, rushing past the bewildered cooks in the kitchen on Brandt's tail.

"Ready when you are, Alpha." Jane replied. She and Ethan had crouched behind a dumpster and watched Julia struggle with the three masked men surrounding her.

The tallest of them grabbed her arm and held her against the wall as the other two smaller men whipped out switchblades. A jarring bang caused all of them to turn their heads to Brandt (having just kicked the door open) storm them with Addie right behind, guns at hand. The moment they appeared, Ethan and Jane emerged from their spot and held the barrels of their weapons at the three men as well. Benji and Sheri sped in merely milliseconds later.

"Try it. I dare you." Adelaide spoke icily, gun aimed at the tallest one. "I don't shoot with hesitation."

Begrudgingly, the man holding Julia backed away and let her go. The frightened young woman rushed over to Addie, who let her take refuge right behind her.

"Take her up to her room, Alpha. Explain the situation to her." Ethan ordered, watching the three men under his steely-eyed gaze. "We'll take care of these three."

Addie nodded curtly and holstered her gun. She put a gentle, caring arm around Julia and swiftly walked her back into the hotel through the kitchen.

Then, the tallest one jumped at Brandt, pulling out a switchblade as well. He sliced upward at the analyst and bright crimson quickly bloomed out of the tear in his shirt. Brandt cursed under his breath briefly before grabbing the man's wrist and twisting him around to constrict it behind his back like a winding snake. His attacker dropped his knife, letting out a cry and grunting as his face hit the alley wall, hands behind his back.

Jane looked to the other two men. "Either of you two want to try anything?" She asked, a threat underlying her tone.

The two of them simultaneously shook their heads, dropping their weapons.

"That's what I thought."

Brandt yanked the mask off of his captive to reveal the guitarist they had been watching for the last week, Adam Neely. Benji rushed over and pulled the masks of the other two off. None of them recognized the co-conspirators, but Adam gave a slight struggle in protest.

"Just leave 'em alone, they're not really involved in this!" He insisted with a frustrated sigh.

"Who are they anyway, Adam?" Sheri questioned sternly.

"My younger twin brothers, now just let 'em go!"

"Not until we get some more answers from you." Ethan gestured for Benji and Brandt to sit the three against the wall. Once they did, he noticed Brandt's injury getting worse little by little as it was still bleeding out.

"Whiskey," Ethan caught his attention. "Why don't you go up to our room and take care of that?"

"But—"

"The rest of us can handle them. Just go clean up."

Brandt holstered his weapon with a slight begrudging sigh and headed back inside the hotel the same way he came out.

"… Sierra, go with him. Make sure he doesn't do something stupid." Ethan gestured for her to go after him after a few minutes of debating.

Slightly surprised, Sheri nodded and hurried in as well.

Ethan turned to the three against the wall, being watched after by Jane and Benji closely. "Time to explain."

-_l_-

'As much as I hate to admit it, Ethan's right. Again. If I know Brandt, he'll make a fit about it and decide he'll be just fine without patching himself up.' Sheri thought, sighing at his stubborn personality as she stepped out of the elevator.

She took quick, calculated steps to the room he and the other two boys shared and opened the door without any hesitation.

"Brandt, Ethan sent me up to—" She stopped suddenly at what she saw.

Brandt had turned to the door as it opened and was rather surprised at the sight of Sheri entering. He had unbuttoned his torn shirt to be able to better reach his wound so he could take care of it when she had walked in. The expression on her face made him want to laugh. She blinked once, then twice, then turned a humble shade of pink, trying to look away from him. She went from being elegant, mature agent to bashful and blushing china doll in about five seconds flat.

"You were saying, Blushing Beauty?" He smirked as she got flustered and gave him an embarrassed glare.

"Ethan sent me up to make sure that THAT," She stabbed a finger at his wound, "Got taken care of. Sit down and I'll take care of it."

Sheri motioned for him to sit down and snatched up the first aid kit on the table. "Sit."

"Sheri, I can handle it myself."

"You'd do a shitty job. Now just sit down, take off your shirt, and shut up while I work." She ordered again.

Rolling his eyes, he gave a small sigh and smile and sat down, pulling off his no longer useful shirt.

"Good boy." She patted his head with a goofy grin and plopped into the chair next to him. Gently, she laid a hand near his wound and examined it. It was a large slice that went from his right collarbone area down to his waist and was bleeding pretty heavily. The wound was deep, but not enough to need stitches.

"I should be able to just clean up the wound and wrap it so that it stops bleeding and all. No stitches required for Mr. Suave Agent Man." She chuckled and began pulling out a towel, antibacterial, gauze and bandages.

"You know, the only one who calls me that is you, Sheri." Brandt teased as she began cleaning his wound. He gave a hearty laugh at her increasing blush.

"Sh-Shut up so I can clean your wound without you moving you ass." Was her snarky reply. "Or maybe I'll decide that I need to stitch you up in more places than one."

"Oh yeah? Like where?"

"Like your mouth, you moron." Sheri slathered on the antibacterial, watching him wince and twitch as if he were being pricked for acupuncture. "Oh grow up! You're being overdramatic."

"Am not! It stings!" he replied back with a childish tone.

"Puh-lease."

"You want me to give you an injury to match it?" Brandt threatened lightly.

"I'd take you down in seconds flat."

"You? Take me down?" Brandt gave a laugh of disbelief. "Yeah right."

"You forget that my brother is Ethan Hunt, Brandt. I had him breathing down my shoulder with the kick ass stuff since _his_ day one at the IMF." She reminded in a maternal tone.

"So?"

With a sharp smack, she put the gauze on his wound and then began wrapping it up. "So don't be a smartass, smartass."

He grabbed her wrist firmly but carefully. Brandt had noticed that she started to avoid eye contact with him long before she had begun tending to him. "Hey, look at me." He asked gently.

Meekly, Sheri finally looked into his forest green eyes with her chocolatey brown ones. He liked how deep her eyes looked. They had insight, experience.

And pain.

He didn't understand why someone would want to inflict pain on a woman like her. Maybe he could get rid of that pain…

"A-Ah, ahem!"

Brandt blinked and sat back. He didn't even realize he was leaning in until Benji had spoken up. By the looks of it, Sheri didn't either. Timidly, she brushed the moment away in her mind and turned to Benji. "Hey Benji. What's the latest?"

"Ethan and Jane let the local authorities take care of Adam and his crew. Oh, and I sent some friend of the senator's up to Julia's room. He knew who we were and apparently it's a scheduled visit and all…" Benji trailed off, shrugging off the information like it wasn't important.

Only it wasn't.

"Benji…" Sheri frowned deeply. "There was never anyone scheduled to come and see Julia. We weren't even allowing that at all. And the senator never told us about any friend visiting."

At this, everyone froze in terrifying realization.

Shit.

-_l_-

"S-So you're friends of my father? Trying to keep an eye on me so that I'm not kidnapped?" The 21-year-old Julia asked. "Some sort of super special secret agents?"

"Pretty much." Addie chuckled sheepishly as the younger woman let her into the room.

She noticed Julia's arms were littered with bruises from her threatening bandmate and his accomplices. Her skin was pale and she shook from the scare she was given.

"Why don't you shower, clean yourself up, and change? Calm yourself down a bit, dear." Addie told her kindly.

"I think that sounds like a really good idea." Julia replied with a weak laugh. "Thanks."

She shuffled into her room and when Addie heard the shower going, she relaxed a bit and looked around the room. Suddenly, there was an ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't shake. It churned in her stomach and made her feel rather ill. She tried to shake it off as nothing, but soon found out it wasn't.

A hand was slammed over her mouth and her back hit a body behind her. She grabbed the unknown's arm and flipped him over her shoulder onto his face. With a sickening crack, Adelaide knew she had broken his nose. Her ears picked up another man in the room and she turned, sending a roundhouse kick at the man's face. He grinned maliciously, wiping away the blood on his lip from her high heels. The man ran at her and rammed her into the ground on her rear.

Growling, she jumped to her feet again, but wasn't prepared for what came next; the first man from before had miraculously pulled himself back up and pulled out a rag with chloroform. He put it over Addie's mouth like a gas mask and she instantly could feel her head spin. Before she passed out, she saw the second man pull a bag out from his inner suit pocket and shove her head into it.

Then, darkness engulfed her world.

-_l_-

The three of them ran up the stairs to Julia's room.

"Echo! Echo we may have a situation here!" Sheri shouted into the speaker.

"What's the issue, Sierra?" He replied calmly.

"We may have been compromised!"

"Kidnappers might be in our target's room and may have outnumbered Alpha! We're on our way to see now! Stand by for back up!" Brandt added as they sped up.

"Roger that, Whiskey!" Jane confirmed.

Sheri barged in through the door gun out and prepped to fire. Brandt followed her in and Benji would have as well when he saw two shady men headed towards the fire escape with a bag thrown over one of their shoulders. Locks of hair peeked out of the bag and he knew instantly what had happened.

"Addie!" He cried, running after the men with his gun out.

Sheri followed after him, leaving Brandt to watch after Julia. The men picked up on Benji's panicked and angry voice and fled down the fire escape as fast as possible.

"Echo and Juliet! He's coming out the fire escape! Trying to stay on Bravo's six! Watch out for any suspicious vehicles or activity, be ready to pursue!" Sheri spun out orders from her mouth like yarn, speeding after the male Brit as fast as her legs would allow her to.

Benji ran after the men, his legs burning like the fires of hell. He wasn't about to let them get away with the very girl he had been chasing since the first day they'd met. Not a chance.

He chased them down to the garage below the hotel, closing in on them. He had lost Sheri on the stairs sometime back so now it was all up to him and any possible back up he had from Ethan or Jane. All up to Benji. He had to succeed on this or he was always going to feel like a rookie failure to the rest of the team.

'Oh crap!' He wasn't paying attention. One of the men had stopped and waited for Benji. With a startlingly robotic force, the man's fist connected to his face and the tech flew back into the ground in seconds. His head harshly collided with the pavement and he blacked out.

Sheri managed to catch up just in time to watch him get slammed down and slid beside him, watching his attacker speed away. "Echo they're headed out! Please pursue! I'm watching out for Bravo! He's temporarily out!"

"We're on it." Came the reply, followed by the shrieking of tires on pavement.

She watched as Ethan's car drove by, doing at least 75 miles per hour, after the white van that was screeching its way out of the parking garage. Only moments after both cars were out of sight, the gut wrenching sound of crunching metal echoed in the silence of the parking garage.

"Echo? Juliet?" Sheri tried to contact them. There was no reply. "Echo? Juliet! You guys? Hello?"

Still no reply. Sheri's stomach did flips.

What had happened?

* * *

><p><em>Cliffhanger~! Hope you enjoyed! Please review! ;)<em>

_Much love~ xoxo_


	7. Chapter 7

_So again PeggsterLover pushed me to make sure this came out... Where would I be without you darling? XD Please enjoy some of the whump on characters (there isn't a ton but still...) and the horrible cliffhanger I live you with! ^^"_

* * *

><p>Jane broke out of unconsciousness first, groaning at the sharp blossom of pain that begun to bloom along the right of her forehead. She managed to pull herself together and realize that she was still strapped into her seat in Ethan's car, but upside down. Her hair was in messy coils, hanging down to the ground with blood from some sort of head wound trickling down them.<p>

Looking over, she found Ethan in a half conscious state. He was falling out of his seat and bleeding heavily from a nasty looking head wound given to him from impact with the windshield. What was worse was that she could see a shard of glass deeply embedded in his arm and signs that his oddly twisted leg could be at least fractured.

The hissing of cooling metal and leaking gas was brought to her attention. She knew she had to move herself and Ethan out quickly before they went out with a bang. Quite literally. Jane un-strapped herself from the car and grabbed the bottom of the seat to help herself down. Once she had successfully done that, she undid Ethan's seatbelt and pulled him down with caution. She dragged him out, careful not to further damage his arm, and laid him on the sidewalk once they were far enough away from the wreckage.

"Sierra, Whiskey, this is Juliet. Echo and I are okay for the most part, but we're going to need a trip to the hospital. We didn't catch them…" She sighed, admitting defeat in letting their kidnappers get away with their teammate. "It's up to you two and Bravo now."

-_l_-

Benji cursed under his breath at himself thoroughly as he held the ice pack to the back of his throbbing head. He let the bad guys get away with the girl cared about. His head wasn't the only thing that was throbbing by now. How were they going to catch the kidnappers without Jane and Ethan? This was going to be impossible.

He knew he wasn't the only one worrying about how this would end. Brandt was pacing around the room, no longer watching over Julia because she was now under protective custody. The situation had become pretty bleak in his eyes. Two of their team was injured and needed to stay out for medical assistance and one was in the hands of some obviously devious baddies.

This situation was just looking more and more charming every minute.

"There's no way we can do this." He sighed, turning to Benji. "We're just gonna have to wait 'til some ransom call is made and then figure out what to do from there. If we can do anything at all."

"This is my fault." Benji threw the ice pack to the floor in frustration. "I'm a complete fool. And everyone takes advantage of it. None of this would've happened if I were you or Ethan."

"Benj, we need you to be you." Brandt sat beside him on the couch. "Who else is going to be our expert on everything technological? And able to adapt with it when things go south? The rest of us aren't as well trained with it as you are. Not even Sheri. You still need some training, sure. But we all did in the beginning."

"I guess." Was the depressed reply. "But can I shape up enough to fix all this? And save Addie?"

Brandt couldn't give him a definite answer. How _were _they going to get her back? Was there even going to be a ransom call?

Would they even keep her alive?

The sound of a shrill whistle caught both men's attention to see Sheri standing in front of them with a firm expression on her face.

"Stop that." She snapped.

"S-Stop what?" Benji replied, suddenly feeling nervous under her stare.

"Being as depressing and sullen as you are. Cut it out right now." She ordered. "The two of you have no right to be negative. We _are_ going to fix this. We _are_ going to stop our kidnappers. And we _are_ going to bring back Addie."

No way in Hell she was just going to let them think this mission was down the hole. Doubts needed to be erased and pessimistic tendencies had to be thrown out the window now. Things were far from over.

"This mission is not impossible, despite your thinking, and it is certainly not over. We're going to rectify any and all mistakes. Starting now." Sheri looked to Benji. "She was still wearing her mic when she got taken. Think you can track it, Benji?"

"If they haven't broken it or anything, sure." He replied, getting up and going to his computer. Someone acting as the authority, acting like Ethan, suddenly made him feel reassured that things could make a complete 180.

Brandt felt like he had just gotten a smack to the face from Jane and an evil glare from Ethan at the same time. The authority and seriousness emitting from Sheri was close to frightening. She had taken on the role of Ethan for the time and from what anyone could tell, she was scary good at it.

-_l_-

Hushed mutters reached Addie's ear as she stirred. With a couple tired flutters from her eyes, she focused in on a clearer picture of her surroundings. Gray, dirt-smeared concrete flooring was the first thing she saw. Lifting her head slowly, she saw a vast space between her and her captors, who were standing at a table and examining the microphone and earpiece she had been wearing earlier. The sun peered over the windows above her and shined its protective light upon her bound figure.

'Tied to a chair in a warehouse. How demeaning.' She mentally sighed.

One deep breath for oxygen told her that she was near the ocean. The smell of sea salt was almost intoxicating to the point that she wanted to puke. 'Rotten sardines.' Addie crinkled her nose in disgust. 'Must be some sort of shut down warehouse used for storage.'

"My my, it seems Ms. Adelaide has awoken, boys." A familiar voice flitted into the room. Expensive Italian shoes could be heard stepping toward her from behind. Jonathon Richmond appeared with a hand on Addie's shoulder and deceivingly professional smile.

"You." She glared. "You're the one who was threatening the senator, huh?"

"Yes. That was me. I'm the one who wants the new weapons system he's working on. But after that stupid guitarist made his move, I had to resort to other means. I found out IMF was in the area by watching you and your group interfere with the kidnapping attempt. I remembered that there was an IMF agent also involved in my little prize; Ethan Hunt. I figured that snatching one of his friends would bend him into getting me what I want." Richmond chuckled as he stepped away to face Adelaide, hands in his pockets.

"So you came up with this whole competition just to lure out his daughter?"

"Oh no. I simply took the host's place. No one really knows Jonathon Richmond so I simply just kind of took his identity for my own. For now anyway." He chuckled, turning to the two kidnappers with a quick frown. "What are you two messing with? What's that?"

"We got a microphone and earpiece off of her. We were—" Richmond interrupted the man.

"Get rid of it! Trash it now!"

The second man took it from the first and threw it on the ground, stomping on it. "Was that supposed to be a tracker, sir?" he asked.

"You'd better hope not. Or you'll be more than fired." Richmond snapped with a venomous glare.

'Please, please let that have tracked me here. Let them have found me.' Addie prayed in her head.

"Now, why don't we contact our IMF friends, hm?" Richmond turned back to Addie with a growing smirk.

-_l_-

"Got it!" Benji cried in success at the computer screen.

"You've triangulated a location?" Brandt asked, walking over with Sheri to look at the screen.

"Yup! Old warehouse for a bunch of chain restaurants along the coast about half an hour from here. Should be easy enough to get to from he—Whoa!" Benji pulled his hands away from the computer, watching it fritz and glitch sporadically. "Someone's hacking my computer! I've lost control!"

"Well who the Hell's doing… This…" Sheri trailed off when web cam interface was connected and Jonathon Richmond's face popped up on screen. "You."

"You sound exactly like Ms. Woods did, Ms. Hunt." Richmond gave the woman a devious smirk as he moved slightly to the side to reveal Adelaide bound to a chair, sending a devil's glare into her captor's back.

"Addie!" Benji blurted out at the sight of her. Her grainy form in the background turned toward the camera and somehow locked eyes with him.

"You'll get the lovely young lady back when I get the codes for access to the resource lab where the IMF's new weapon is being developed. Give me those and I give you her. You have three hours."

And with that the image blinked out.

"Now what?" Brandt threw up his arms in frustration.

"Leave this to me. I have an idea." Sheri put in with a small smirk of her own.

-_l_-

Addie could do nothing but watch as she sat attached to the chair while Brandt and Benji approached Richmond from the entrance of the warehouse. Both remained stoic and professional as they stood before the head of the kidnapping operation.

"I take it those are my codes?" Richmond gestured to the briefcase in Benji's hands.

"Might be. We'd like our teammate first." Brandt gave the man a steely-eyed glare, crossing his arms.

"Of course, of course." He waved for his two men to come over.

They pushed Addie along, the barrels of their weapons practically breathing down her back. She shot Richmond an evil glare as they shoved her into Benji's arms. He caught her with ease and communicated through his bright blue eyes that everything was under control.

Brandt took the case from Benji and tossed it to Richmond. "There. Done and done."

Evidently pleased, he opened the case and sifted through the codes inside. He closed it and sneered at the trio. "I'm surprised Ms. Hunt didn't join us for our little transaction. She upset that I got her brother into a car accident?"

"Oh she's here. No one ever said she wasn't a part of the party." Brandt retorted confidently.

A bullet whistled through the air, impacting with the back of the first minion. Once he was introduced to the floor with his face, another bullet made contact with the second man's head and his blood splattered across the concrete in strangely flower-like form. Richmond whipped around and before he could emit any sort of noise, a third bullet collided with his shoulder and stuck there. His once powerful figure crumpled to the floor while he clutched his shoulder. Benji ran over and snatched up the briefcase, running back to Addie and Brandt. Sheri jumped down from the grating of the fire escape above them, sliding down the ladder with a panicked expression.

"We gotta run now!" She told them hurriedly as she got off and began to sprint towards them. "This whole place is lined with explosives and I don't know where the detonator is-!"

Her eyes locked with Richmond's form on the ground. He had propped himself up and held some small item in his hand. His grin made her uneasy, echoing a face of the devil as he pressed the button in his hand.

"RUN!" She shrieked as explosions began to detonate overhead.

Benji took Addie's hand and ran towards the entrance without hesitation. Brandt, however, ran to Sheri and grabbed her hand and yanked her along. The warehouse had crumbled down on Richmond and his men long ago. Sheri, in a moment of desperation, shoved Brandt out of the house of cards first.

He stumbled and when he turned to see where she had gone, part of the concrete smacked him upside the head harshly. Brandt yelled and fell back onto the ground, finding his world suddenly black.

Benji and Addie bent by their friend's unmoving form and watched as the rest of the warehouse was demolished. There was just one problem.

Sheri wasn't among them watching as well.

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><p><em>Please review~!<em>

_Love to everyone! xoxo_


	8. Chapter 8

_At last your questions shall be answered! Is Sheri okay? How will Brandt react to her not being there? What about Benji and Addie? Find out now in this installment of "Band"-ing Together! ;P *is currently a TV announcer... I guess*_

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><p>Brandt groaned as he inhaled the pungent sea air into his lungs. Something cold and wet laid on his forehead, strangely easing away the rather strong headache he realized he had after becoming too aware of his emerging consciousness. He sat up quickly, only to have a hand on his chest push him back down gently while his eyes blurred.<p>

"Don't sit up just yet. You'll only make yourself sick." A female voice told him.

That's funny. She sounded a bit like Jane. But Jane was at the hospital, wasn't she? Unless she was released. Which meant it was likely Ethan was there too. Where was he again?

Oh that's right, the warehouse by the bay. Where they rescued Addie and killed off Richmond's goons and…

The explosives. He remembered now. The warehouse crumbling down, running to try and get away, his hand cinched around Sheri's wrist tightly, her pushing him out…

Sheri.

"Sheri…" He winced, sitting up against his teammate's advice. He paid for it with a gradually growing pain in his forehead. "Where's Sheri?"

Jane gave a grim frown and took the ice pack from his aching head. "She didn't make it out… The firemen are searching for any survivors now."

Her statement brought to Brandt's attention the blinding lights from the emergency vehicles as well as the workers walking around in rescue jackets and helmets with clear visors. He felt nausea come onto him in waves matching those of the ocean beside him and swung his legs over the stretcher he had been previously been laying on. Bad idea. The seasickness only get worse while the world spun around him. He hadn't been this disoriented since his junior year in high school, when he was courting the hot nerd with the voluptuous curves in the library. She had smacked him hard over the head with her books and he ended up regaining consciousness in the nurse's office. The principal let him off with a warning for sexual harassment. Thank god for his charismatic nature.

"I should help find her. She shoved me out to make sure I was safe. Time to return the favor." Brandt insisted, getting to his feet and brushing the gut churning feeling away.

"Ethan's already looking with Addie and Benji. He's pretty angry about what happened. I don't think he'll be particularly happy to see you." Jane explained it all with her implications.

"So you're saying he's blaming me for this?" Brandt let out a bitter snort. "If anything it's her fault for pushing me out."

"Brandt—" Carter stopped when she realized how the analyst was reacting to her explanation.

"It's her fault… She's such a hero type." He let out a choked laugh as he covered his face with his hand, sitting on the stretcher. "She'll never learn to stop being Ethan… And just be herself."

"The only way she'll learn how to do that is through you." Jane replied plainly, as if it were an obvious answer.

-_l_-

Sheri hissed at the explosion of pain gnawing on her leg. She felt a warm liquid seeping and spreading across it, finding it immobile for reasons she didn't want to tell herself. But she was pretty sure something had impaled her through the leg.

"Brilliant." Her laugh was pained. "Feels like hellfire in my veins."

The woman could barely move due to her leg and the giant chunks of concrete stacked above her. It was almost as if she had become trapped under a half-broken house of cards. She sighed in tired frustration. Would anyone find her under here? Beneath all the rubble and wreckage of the shut down warehouse?

Would she even survive to be found? With her leg bleeding out, she could die of blood loss. Or worse, some nasty infection.

"Stop it Sheridan." She told herself, sniffling only to cough from the settling dust and blinking away the tears to no avail. "Don't be so weak. It's pathetic."

It was dark in her cache; night had fallen and not even the moonlight could reach her where she was. She was, quite literally, in too deep. Her thoughts went to Addie and Benji, her little matchmaking project. With luck they've finally admitted everything in the aftermath of a life threatening and dangerous situation. She'd hate for them never to be together, even if it was a short relationship.

Jane must be anxious too. By now, she was probably out of the hospital and got some sort of call from one of the others. She could be out there right now, trying to help in the search for her. Ethan probably came along with her.

Ethan. She wondered how he felt. If he was worried at all or even there. He could've still been injured and stuck in a hospital bed somewhere. Was he even thinking about her right now?

Her mind drifted to someone who would be; Brandt. The two of them had gotten close since the mission's start and continued getting closer. He was someone she had opened her heart to because she trusted him. Now she might never get to see him again. None of them.

She'd never hear him and Benji have their petty little arguments again. Never hear the snarky comments between the two of them that would always make Ethan snap at them to make them behave. Nor Jane's comments on her training or her sisterly handle on things while still being a kick ass lady agent. Never again would she and Addie do just about everything together and laugh about their teammates when they did something so completely foolish.

The welling at the corner of her eyes couldn't be stopped this time. An invisible noose hung around her neck as her throat tightened.

"You're not alone, together we stand…" She sang quietly, gulping. "I'll be by your side you know I'll take your hand…"

-_l_-

Benji and Addie paced around the area together. Looking for any signal of Sheri's survival was proving to be a challenge. Addie's heart was becoming weighted and rising slowly into her throat. If Sheri was dead because she got kidnapped…

A warm hand slipped into hers and Benji's electric blue eyes looked back into her multi-colored ones. "Don't blame yourself, Addie. She put Brandt before herself. I think she knew what she was setting herself up for."

"Sure she did. I don't doubt that. But Benji, if there hadn't been a kidnapping in the first place, whether it had been me or Julia… Wouldn't she still be standing here next to us?"

The sea breeze blew cool air around the two of them, taking place of the frozen silence between them. "I get what you're thinking, but you shouldn't blame yourself. Frankly I blame myself for you getting kidnapped."

"Benji—"

"J-Just listen." The tech insisted, standing in front of the other Brit with his hands placed on her shoulders. "I saw them trying to run off with you and I went after them. I would've caught them too but I let myself get distracted… I let myself be vulnerable and that brought its consequences on me. They got away with you and Ethan and Jane ended up in an accident because I couldn't catch up in time."

Addie watched Benji's head droop in shame as he bit his lip guiltily. He really felt like this was his fault… Like his inexperience was the weakness of himself and the whole team. In a spontaneous moment of compassion, she reached over and embraced him tightly.

"A-Addie?" Benji stammered unsurely. This sudden moment of affection surprised him.

"You may think you're just a novice Benj… But you are one of the most experienced people on the team. You know more than you think you do about things. You have your knowledge and we have ours. We teach you and you teach us back. You just need to have confidence."

He wasn't sure what to say to that. One thing was for sure; Benji no longer felt like the weak link. In fact, he was starting to feel pretty invulnerable to any rejection…

"Adelaide—"

"Shhhh." Addie pulled away and looked to the wreckage in careful concentration.

"What is it?"

"I hear something…" She replied quietly.

She jumped up onto some of the rubble and put an ear close down to the concrete pieces. Her ears picked up an arrangement of notes, a song, that was steadily getting louder and louder…

"I found her. I found her! Ethan! Benji! Guys! Over here!" She stood and flagged down the team and some of the firemen.

They joined her on the mound and picked up on the singing too. "That's definitely Sheri. Keep singing…" Ethan muttered, bending down to clear away what he could of the stone and metal.

Addie soon joined him, then Benji, Brandt, Jane, and the entire rescue crew. Cranes were brought in to move the bigger pieces of the warehouse. "Sheri! If you can hear us, keep singing!" Jane called down the hole they were making.

"Keep singing! We're almost there to find you!" Brandt added, his hands starting to bleed from rushing to move everything away.

A fair-skinned hand reached from below the hole. Ethan grabbed hold of it and looked down, catching sight of Sheri's weary eye. "We've got ya, Sheri. We'll get you out of here."

"I know you will." A confidently quiet voice replied back.

-_l_-

It was a difficult process, especially getting the metal rigging of the ceiling out of Sheri's leg. She bravely bit back a scream, but couldn't hold back the tears of pain she had. The EMTs doped her up on pain medication and wheeled her stretcher into the ambulance. There, Ethan and Brandt both sat on either side of her.

About fifteen minutes into the hour ride to the hospital, Ethan looked over at Brandt seriously.

"I get that it wasn't your fault." He told the analyst simply. "But if she gets hurt again, I won't hesitate to break you."

"That a blessing from the brother of the lady?" Brandt raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe. But if she ends up getting hurt saving your life again, I will make sure your life's hell."

An aggravated mumble rose from the bed between them. Sheri lifted a hand lazily at her brother, giving him a lackadaisical glare. "You dooo thaaat, and I'llll maaake yooouur life helllle too." She slurred slightly, affected by the morphine that numbed her from the pain in her leg.

Hunt laughed, the brightest sound he had released in a long time and he put his sister's hand down gently.

"Just rest. We'll talk more later." He reassured with a warm grin.

She gladly obliged to his request.

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><p><em>Only one chapter left! Then maybe an epilogue! ;D Please review!<em>

_Love to all you out there! xoxo_


	9. Chapter 9

_Last chapter ladies! (and possible gents) PLease enjoy even though it is short!_

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><p>The hospital cafeteria was quiet except for the few late night workers lingering around with cups of coffee. Addie embraced the utter serenity of the room as she walked in with Benji and Jane. It was about 1 in the morning. The night still glittered with sparkling points of white lights above and cool sea breezes pushed their way through the cracks between the doors. But Benji's stomach still growled monstrously for sustenance.<p>

Jane glanced at the man with an amused expression as he simply blushed and grumbled embarrassedly under his breath.

"I haven't eaten in hours. I'm gonna be like a bloody vaccum." He complained as they stood in front of the menus, looking over their choices.

Carter noticed, however, that Benji was paying more attention to the individual on the other side of her, rather than the menu boards.

"I'm gonna go to the restroom first. Don't get anything to eat without me!" She told the pair as she walked off to the lavatories.

A comfortably casual silence stayed between the two, but for Benji it was nerve-racking.

'Buck up Benji. You'll never get anywhere that you want to go with just silence.' He thought to himself as he took a deep breath.

"Addie—"

"Benji—"

Addie blinked at their unison speaking times and laughed sheepishly. "Oops, sorry. You first."

"Ah, um, okay." Benji let out a deep, calming sigh. "The whole time you were kidnapped… I blamed myself for it. And when you and I got to do all the practicing and stuff together, I really enjoyed it. Um… Gosh I'm not getting anywhere with this. Forget it!"

He waved his hands and simply took Adelaide by the shoulders. In a whirlwind moment of spontaneity, Benji slammed his lips against hers without a second thought. Something in Addie's heart jumpstarted her whole body to react with the typical response; kissing back.

The technician pulled away and gave a confident grin. "Does that say it all or do I have to actually say it?"

"You're good, Benji. I get the message." Addie grinned back and embraced him, letting out a slight squeal of delight.

From the doorway, a pair of pleased brown eyes watched their happy scene with a pang of nostalgia in her stomach. Jane was extremely happy that Benji had found somebody and that it was someone with a great personality like Addie's. It reminded her of herself and Trevor when he was still around. The reminder of him being deceased made her a bit sick. She didn't want the two of them to have the same ending to their relationship as she did (if it ended at all, who knows?). Maybe if she stuck around to keep an eye on them, things wouldn't go as far south for them.

For now, a little congratulation was in order.

-_l_-

Sheri woke up hours later from the anesthesia with a mild headache. Her mind was a bit foggy and she felt pretty groggy, but other than that she felt rather okay. It was after a few more blinks of her blurred eyes that she remembered she was in the hospital and that she had just undergone surgery to patch up the hole in her leg. Recovery was going to take weeks, even months, so that her nerves in that area could all come back. Which meant no more missions for her for a while. At least none of the life endangering jobs.

Glancing to both her sides, Sheri found Ethan leaning back in a seat on one side with his hand clenched around hers in sleep and Brandt resting his head on the edge of her bed with an arm to prop him up, his hand clutching her other.

A warm, tingly feeling blossomed in her chest as she smiled at the two's sleeping forms. Leaning over, she kissed her brother on the forehead, like he used to do for her, and squeezed his hand gently. "Thank you for caring." She whispered.

Moving over to Brandt, she pecked his cheek and whispered, "Thank you for loving," squeezing his hand.

Both men squeezed her hands in return.

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><p><em>Love to you all! Hope the ending was good enough! ;) Next comes my lovely little epilogue.<em>


	10. Epilogue

_Here's the epilogue! The song you should be listening to for this chapter is "Fantasy" by Appleton. ;) Thanks to PeggsterLover for helping me with ideas and pushing me with progress! Please enjoy this last little bit and... Imagine what you will ;D_

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><p><em>Two months later…<em>

Venice, Italy; a place of romance and fine arts. And the current residence area for one Johann Braun, arms dealer and suspected murderer of several US federal agents. The team, undercover as a group of dates on a couples' retreat, has been tasked with pursuing him and taking him down; dead or alive.

Easier said than done. Three days into the mission and Johann was being a recluse. He hadn't let anyone in his house, left once, or even opened a window. Ethan was getting frustrated just watching this man sit around his home and do pretty much _nothing _all day. Why did he and Jane take the night shift again? Oh right, Jane's idea.

"Remind me again," He sighed, turning away from the monitor to his "date," "Why we took the night time look out again?"

"Because the rest of the team doesn't need you breathing down their necks while they're relaxing." Jane retorted with a smirk. "Especially not your sister."

Somehow Ethan was now happy that he was on stakeout rather than back at the hotel.

-_l_-

At the same time, Benji and Brandt were sitting at the bar, downing shots and laughing between themselves. Life was pretty damn good for them. On a couples' retreat (undercover) with their girlfriends was not gonna get much better than this.

Well, not yet.

A smooth R&B beat filled the room from the speakers and Addie, dressed in a striking red halter dress that only fell down to her knees or so, strode out onto the small performer's stage with a microphone. She sang with a low, sensual voice with a glint in her eye communicating some secret message to Benji. He blushed brightly, but was inwardly liking what she was trying to tell him.

Sheri came out next, donning a deep purple sleeveless dress with a black sash around the waist. She locked eyes with Brandt and sung after her friend, giving him a flirtatious wink. His hands twitched a bit at the thought of what she was implying, though he was pretty sure she was just helping Addie with her message.

By the end of the song, Benji had an arm wrapped low around Adelaide's waist and was venturing up to their room together. Sheri placed her microphone on the bar table with a victorious grin. Mission over.

Brandt wrapped two arms around her waist from behind and rested his head in the crook of her neck, whispering some rather… erotic things in her ear. She bit her lip with a sinful smile gracing her lips.

Correction; Mission Accomplished.

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><p><em>So cheesy. But I couldn't resist. XD The End~!<em>


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